As the fallout continues over David de Gea’s transfer collapsing in a row about timekeeping, Manchester United are celebrating the launch of their new official club watch.
The long-planned De Gea move to Real Madrid fell through on Tuesday, with both clubs releasing terse statements blaming each other for failures, delays and miscommunications which led to the paperwork not being filed in time to beat Monday’s Spanish transfer deadline at 11pm BST.
But the row over who did what, when, failed to deter United’s commercial department from unveiling their latest new product – a £350 official Manchester United Club Watch, made by “Official Timekeeping Partner” Bulova.
United said: “The beautifully-crafted timepiece pays homage to the club’s history by including nine separate commemorative design features” – and also paid tribute to Bulova’s “attention to detail and quality”.
The fallout over the failed De Gea move continued on Wednesday, with the Spain manager, Vicente del Bosque, admitting it will now be difficult for him to select the keeper in his European Championship squad if he remains on the sidelines.
The 24-year-old is in Del Bosque’s plans for this weekend’s Euro 2016 qualifiers against Slovakia and Macedonia, but could struggle to reach France if his absence from the United first team continues. De Gea has yet to make appearance for Louis van Gaal’s side this season.
Del Bosque told Marca: “He needs to be professional and move on from this episode. I hope that he starts playing again and is happy, and if he plays well we can bring him along, otherwise if he doesn’t play it will be very difficult for him to come [to the Euros].”
De Gea has made five appearances for Spain, the reigning European champions, whose first-choice keeper remains Iker Casillas, formerly of Real Madrid, who has 162 caps.
